Chapter Text
The Legend Of The Vanished Five
Around five years ago, before the school of Kadic Academy had much stricter rules, there was a group of misfits. They were outcasts, who came together for reasons that nobody understood. However, despite their differences, they were as normal as any other group from their school.
That is, until the unfortunate disappearances…
However, before we get to that, we must talk about Aelita Stones.
Students said of her sudden appearance around campus, along with one of its students pretending to be her cousin, but on record, she was a girl who appeared and disappeared all within the same year, leading others to believe she was the source of these disappearances.
Perhaps she was an angry forest spirit or a demon that had been granted access to the mortal realm. Students have gone on record saying of the strange electrical failures that have been happening. However, those sightings have been sporadic and have no proof to base itself on.
The first disappearance was a boy named Ulrich Stern. Records have gone on that the last place he was spotted was by the river near the abandoned factory. Nobody knows where he went next, but experts have said he had drowned to death.
The second disappeared a week later. Yumi Ishiyama seemed like a normal girl, but she regularly broke the school's rules. She was often found hanging out in the school's boiler room, where she sat around to mope. With her friend's disappearance a week prior, this day wasn’t any different, however, that day took a dark turn. Nobody could find her, but others suspect she fell off the ledge, meeting a terrible, fiery demise.
The third, a month later. Odd Della Robbia was quite the eccentric student, so with newfound claims of there being a “spirit in the forest,” he went ahead to check it for himself, not believing in his classmate's knowledge. However, he was never to be seen again, the only trace left of him was his phone, in the middle of the forest with nobody it belonged to. Not a single trace was left of him.
The fourth just at the end of the year came; Aelita Stones. She was the presumable “Spirit of the forest,” but also lived a double life as an ordinary student. Nobody knows what led her to do this, but just as she arrived, she disappeared, with no traceable records to ever prove she existed at all. However, she took one last student with her before she left.
The fifth, and last unfortunate soul was William Dunbar. He was one of the few to proclaim the “Spirit of the forest,” even claiming of a recent den of wolves moving into the forest. Despite the school's efforts, William snuck out one day and never returned. Some suspect he met an unfortunate end via mauling.
The most disturbing part of it all is that nobody could find their bodies.
One by one, they all disappeared, their disappearances became regional news, a concern that was raised in everyone's hearts. Their disappearances were a source of rage and grief for the parents involved and an unremovable black stain on the academy's reputation.
Some say that they died despite the lack of bodies. However, rumor has it that at night, you can see the victims of the forest spirit walking around school grounds. Forever lost souls, forever stuck in years past. Take heed, however, as lost spirits can be quite vicious creatures…
---
The night was cold and bitter on September 11th, 2008. The lights of the city beyond the campus were slowly flickering off one by one, the city growing quiet as the night grew longer and longer. Cloud cover hung heavy, eclipsing the moon and the stars with the threat of rain and sorrow.
The dead of night had arrived at Kadic Academy.
Usually, most were not active at these hours. Students and staff alike would be fast asleep in their soft, warm beds, dreaming of trivial matters and blissfully unaware of tomorrow’s waking struggles.
The only ones still awake were Jim Morales, the aging gym teacher and human gargoyle who watched over Kadic’s slumbering halls, and curfew breakers.
However, there was another awake with not a care in the world about tomorrow’s exhaustion. Staring at her laptop at the witching hour, doing research.
Ghost Peppers.
Ghost was seen as a strange girl, mostly because she was. She was smaller than everyone in her grade, only beating out the 7th graders in sheer height factor. A tiny little thing with a strange fascination for the dead.
She had ghostly blue eyes, dark brown hair, and a darker complexion than most of her classmates. She wore a purple-gray jacket over a black crop top, black shorts, black-and-gray long socks, and purplish-gray boots. On her head was a green beanie, and on her neck was a black chocker adorned with a crescent moon symbol.
Ghost was busy reading through one of many local urban legend websites she had come across, looking for new rituals to perform, when this one in particular caught her eye.
The Legend Of The Vanished Five.
Ghost squinted her eyes as she took in what she was reading, the harsh glow of her laptop burning the images of the website onto her retinas.
"Five students...Dissapeared so close together..." She mumbled to herself.
She leaned back in her chair, giving her eyes a rest from her laptop’s harsh blue glow.
Midnight was always her favorite time of the day, as she had actual time to do what she needed to, instead of constant schoolwork. Not to mention, with the school's incredibly strict curfew, you'd have to be an expert to weasel your way out at any time of the day.
Luckily, Ghost herself was quite the expert, sneaking out at midnight for tea and the usual seance in the local graveyard. It wasn’t hard to do, but there were some nuances to it if you wanted to escape without Jim suspecting anything.
Ghost sighed as she turned her head back at the website again, closing her eyes in thought. Of course, you couldn't just trust any old sketchy urban legend you found on a whim, especially on the internet. All too often, they'd be fake, and they'd waste her time with nonsense rituals to perform. Even so, she liked to try anyway. Nobody else cared about spirits but her, after all.
However, something felt off about it this time…. What was it? Nostalgia? Uncertainty? Confusion?
She swore she recognized one of them in the photo attached to it…But then again, it was years ago. Way back before she was at Kadic, way younger than any of the kids in these pictures…What was she thinking about again...?
It probably wasn’t important anyways… Maybe the planets were misaligned today? That would be a pain though, misaligned planets could make her divinations inaccurate.
Oh well, she’ll worry about it the next time she does a tarot reading. Besides, she wanted to test this out for herself. She had always been interested in proving that Kadic was indeed haunted by ghosts, and, if she was successful, maybe she could be the one to solve one of Kadic’s greatest mysteries while she was at it.
Turning from her computer, she went into her drawer, rummaging through it for her supplies. The urban legend didn’t say anything about specific rituals that needed to be performed to contact these spirits. So maybe she could just simply use her old reliable.
Old seance book? Nope, don’t need it. The spirits weren’t THAT old. Water candles? Yeah, they worked best for aggravating and arousing spiritual energies. Take a couple of those. Ouija Board? Helpful, but not required. They were heavy, anyway. Jim could easily catch her. Salt? Yeah, needed for her safety. Spirits could be so rude sometimes. Take her usual pouch…
Should she bring her newer seance book with her? Nah, it wouldn’t be necessary. These ghosts, according to the urban legend, were pretty young, so they would probably only require a basic seance. Thankfully, she had a pretty effective one memorized.
She checked her bag as she wrapped up preparations. Well, that should be everything…
So, now done with everything that was needed to do her job, she got up from her chair and walked toward the door to her dorm. However, Ghost felt…strange. It was like she was standing on the threshold of no return, the point at which she couldn’t turn back and she would be thrown into an abyss of her own.
However, It wasn’t like she was worried about that. Far from it, in fact. It was just…well, something about this urban legend was bugging her. She felt like there was something much bigger underneath its surface than meets the eye. Especially that boy…
But then again, what was she worrying about? Her old reliable never steered her wrong before. Besides, it could be that this urban legend was a bunch of hooey made by some guy who wanted to bank off of a real missing persons case that happened at her school.
That would make her feel like she was being led on and made fun of again, made a mockery of in this world…but it wasn’t like she didn’t have any experience with these kinds of people before. Some people really like giving seances a bad name.
But she had hope. And with hope, came willpower.
With that willpower, she opened that fateful door…and left the safety of her room.
Unaware of the terrors she was about to entangle herself in…
___
It took her around 20 minutes to get into the woods around Kadic.
Usually, getting to this point took her 10, but Jim had most likely caught someone near the girls’ dorms, for that was the only explanation Ghost could give about him standing in the middle of the hallway, screaming at the top of his lungs at some poor girl who decided that going on a date was more important than her academic future.
That didn’t matter now, however. She was finally here.
In the dead of night…in the middle of the woods. With only herself, the clothes on her back, and her bag of supplies for company.
She shuddered at the thought, feeling uncertain about her own safety in these woods.
But it could also be just the night’s cold front hitting her suddenly. The woods were always cold, even during the summer. That was simply one of the many truths about Kadic Academy.
Jean-Pierre Delmas was paranoid, Jim slept as much as a robot, Kadic News was the worst club you could possibly be in, and the campus was always cold at night.
Now, that was all well and good. However, it was still hard to keep warm in the woods regardless. Even though she didn’t mind the cold all too much, the temperature was still very hard to ignore.
However, if the rumors were true and the spirit was indeed real, that put the cold into perspective: This spirit was restless. Incredibly so. She could tell that much. This cold was too intense, even for her.
Well, at least she knew something was here, right?
Ghost gently put her bag of supplies on the ground, pulling it open and taking out all of the candles she brought. Then, grabbing a box of matches from her bag, she pulled one out and kept it in her hands.
As a just-in-case precaution, she also pulled out her pouch of salt. Then, after opening it up, carefully dumped a circle’s worth of salt around her. Thankfully, she had enough to complete the circle before running out, the pouch feeling light and empty in her hand. She needed to get more salt from that funky lady down the street…or steal it from the Kadic kitchens, but only as a last resort.
She really didn’t like stealing.
Now that her preparations were complete, she sat on the ground cross-legged in the middle of her salt circle and placed both candles in front of her. Then, using the match in her hands, struck it against the matchbox and lit each candle. If there was any benefit to lighting these candles other than spiritual reasons, it was definitely so they warmed up the cold night air a bit. A blessing with how cold this forest was getting.
“...Mysterious spirit of the woods, rise from the netherworld and make your presence known. I channel the spiritual energies in me to summon you…”
She left the phrase hanging in the air for a fleeting moment. She sensed the energy this spirit had told her that whoever it was, would come in no time at all…But something about this energy felt wrong like she should stop.
…No, she had to commit. The ritual had already started. There was no turning back.
“...T-to this earth to speak your plights. In the name of Hecate, come. Make your presence known or be cast into darkness.”
The air grew still, apart from the chill that surrounded her. It all felt all too quiet for her, too quiet despite the clear presence that she was sensing. That didn't matter, sometimes it took forever for a spirit to show up, and, with these, you needed to be patient.
Still, the presence was so obvious even before she set everything up herself, so it shouldn’t be that far away…
Grounding herself, she gently put her hands down to the ground, taking a steady, deep breath.
She slowly opened her eyes, before going wide-eyed once she realized that her candles were blowing back, as if a strong breeze was pushing against them. However, she felt no breeze in the air whatsoever.
Sure, that was a sign there was a spirit around here, but the flicker seemed a little too intense for her liking, no way a singular presence could make a candle wick burn this bright.
She took another deep breath, closing her eyes to maintain her composure. Not just to ease her nerves, but to keep the spirit calmer.
A strong breeze swiftly kicked in, blowing her hair back in wisps. Ghost almost jumped at the suddenness of the gust of wind. She had the signs, but it still caught her off guard. Slowly, she opened her eyes, just enough for them to barely see what was ahead.
She looked around, noticing the plants that were just beyond her protective circle of salt. They were moving against the wind as they should, but they also seemed rather still for such a strong breeze, it almost made them look like they were trembling as if the ground itself was shaking right under them.
Slowly, she could hear the gradual sound of heavy trudging of boots, the air dropping in temperature with each step that echoed in the wilderness beyond her salt circle. Ghost froze with an unsettling chill, both at the temperature and what she saw ahead.
A girl…around her age. She wore an outfit that was suited for a heavy winter day. She wore maroon headgear, and goggles adorned her head. One side of her goggles was broken, revealing her faded, ghostly eyes. Leaves and branches stuck out of the hat and hair at odd angles, like fingers crawling out of her cracked raven-colored hair…
The most disturbing part of the ghost wasn’t the ghost itself, but what was struck through it.
A thick tree branch, gnarly and covered in frozen blood and viscera, protruding out of her chest, as if she was pierced by it.
Ghost felt herself shivering even more, the more detail she took in, the more her nerves shot up, almost making her unable to move from her spot even if she tried.
It was cold, really… really cold.
The sound of moving branches around her was getting louder as if to warn her about what she had brought onto herself. Should she cut contact? Whoever this was, their presence was pretty restless for a single spirit…Maybe there was more coming? Though this one was already enough to see for one night, the details were too gnarly for her liking… Though she shouldn’t worry about that part, this used to be a person after all, someone else’s scars shouldn’t bother her when she has none herself.
…Well, maybe their looks were deceiving… She should at least try to communicate…Then again, what would you even ask a spirit like this? Not their appearance, that surely would be a sensitive topic to them…Maybe their name? Mm, no…That's rude of her to ask with such a heavy presence…Maybe…?
“...Why did you appear so quickly? Is there a reason? Are there others with you?” The words spilled out all at once, her curiosity as to why they came out the moment she set up her seance occupying any logic she had about the spirit…
However, in response, the spirit simply stared back, standing in place, her gaze seemingly fixed on her. She heard nothing but the howling of wind and rustling of nearby tree branches.
…Come to think of it, the rustling was getting a bit loud, wasn’t it?
Ghost turned back to the spirit, noticing the slow tilting of their head, and their only visible eye squinting.
Ghost wasn’t sure what exactly they felt, but the eerie silence that followed her question and the unnatural wind and movement of the trees weren’t a good sign. Maybe she should…
She paused for a moment, noticing as a small tree root began sprouting out of the soil, just in front of her circle. Ghost didn’t want to look away from it, her fear practically pinning her in place.
This was way beyond what she had to deal with before, no spirits had that sort of presence or even power, it probably wasn’t even a spirit she was talking to, something else entirely. She needed to cut off the seance before the salt got breached.
“T-thank you, dear spirit! M-May you leave in peace-” She blurted out, rushing to blow out the candles in front of her.
However, before Ghost could blow out the first candle, the tree root in front of the circle suddenly lashed out, turning into a spike of vegetation before her very eyes. Yelping, Ghost weaved and avoided it for the most part.
However, the same could not be said for her cheek.
She winced once the pain registered on her face. She held the right side of her face in pain as little bits of blood flowed down through her fingers. Panicking, she attempted to blow out the last candle before scrambling to her feet, planning to run as far as her feet could take her.
Not long after she started to run, she tripped up on something, flopping flat on the ground with the aches and pains that came with such a fall. However, as she tried to get up, she felt something…odd, on her leg.
Weird…it was as if something was grabbing hold of it for some reason…But why?
She looked behind her, only freezing with fear upon realizing her problem. The last candle was still lit, and the spirit was still standing there, staring blankly at her. She looked down, seeing the tree root now wrapped around her leg
…Oh no…
Ghost just did the one thing you should NEVER do when doing seances, leave the circle open.
And what’s more…it was that spirit. It was that girl that she had to break that rule on.
She couldn’t go back though, this spirit was too violent, too dangerous. She’d risk her life if she went back, but she couldn’t leave it like this…
Later. She had to go back later. She needed to go back later, but right now, she needed to run. She needed to wait until the sun rose to do anything about that ghost.
After kicking and pushing against the root, she thankfully was able to worm her way out of its grasp, its grip on her leg gone as she began clawing at the ground to push herself up and escape.
She ran for what felt like kilometers, her feet kicking up loose dirt on the ground and her lungs strained and hyperventilated. She didn’t want to look back, she feared that if she looked back, she would see that… Thing following her. She usually never referred to spirits like that, ever. She felt it felt too disrespectful to label them a thing…Something about her though, just felt too unnatural, even for a ghost.
It wasn’t a spirit…it was something else.
She didn’t stop running until she was clear of the forest, surrounded by the familiar drab and weary buildings of Kadic Academy. It was at that moment that she caught her breath, gripping her knees and letting in huge gulps of thankfully warmer air.
By some miracle, she got out of there…though the circle was still open though, the seance unfinished. If she didn’t close it, so many people could be in danger.
The last thing she thought before she ran back to her dorm, was fear clawing at her mind like nothing else as realization sunk in.
A spirit…Or something else entirely almost killed her. No, tried to kill her…What’s to say about the other kids in the legend, though?
Oh spirits, she was dumb enough to try and summon it> now could she not only be harming people with that singular ghost, but several others too!
She calmed her breathing, regret replacing her one prominent fear.
…What now?
She needed to rest, she could worry later.
___
Ghost was walking around her school grounds as harsh winds bellowed, though they were hardly recognizable as such. All she saw was white shimmering snow, but not the peaceful snow-day type. This was the type that was out to freeze her to death. Her face felt numb from the snowy air, never leaving her alone, pushing her back on her way.
It had been snowing like this all day. Ever since an intense snowstorm hit them only an hour ago…From what? She forgot the details…It almost felt like she had the answer, but her hazy mind kept her from receiving the details.
Around her was nothing, no sign of any life but her. Trees were ice sculptures that shot into the sky, and animals had their frozen corpses buried below the ice. She would feel sad about innocent animals being frozen to death into almost comical popsicles, but she had to do something, be somewhere…
…Where did she have to go again?
Her mind felt hazy, like everything she saw wasn’t all real, like her mind interpreted most of the details, maybe she had forgotten what it was…
However, she still trudged her way through the forest, ice crunching under her feet, an objective to find something, someone, any sign of life, but she couldn’t see anything in the frosty haze.
A harsh fog of ice and cold had obscured everything she could see. All she felt was the cold breezy chill on her cheeks and fingers, like they could fall off any minute. Her body, especially her legs felt too numb to keep her going, let alone upright, like she could collapse any moment.
Just as she made it deeper into the woods to the point where she couldn’t see what remained of Kadic’s buildings, she kept on her path. Soon enough though, she couldn't keep going on like this. Her mind was practically swallowed in a haze like she could faint any second now. She kept on her path, some fleeting spark of determination guiding her path.
She was so hazy she barely heard the sharp sudden snap above. She only had a second to look up to see the shadow of a tree crashing down on her. She felt fear and panic warm her frozen veins for those few seconds, before…
Ghost jolted awake as she felt an intense chill run down her whole being, the nightmare she had witnessed sticking out so clearly in her mind. Shaking, she wrapped her arms around herself, to both warm and ground herself in reality at the same time, trying to take deep, shaky breaths.
It was bone-chillingly cold, way, way too cold.
She never felt this before, it was… bizarre. It was as if that spirit was still haunting her, punishing her for leaving the seance circle open.
She looked at the time… 6 AM. An hour before breakfast. 30 minutes before the showers turned on.
She can’t go back to sleep now, especially after that nightmare, but she was still shaken up by the whole encounter with the spirit… or whatever that was.
She wanted to- No, she needed to talk to someone, someone she could trust, someone like-
Her face lit up when she remembered her dear friend. Someone who was always by her even in her darkest moments. Someone she trusted more than anyone else in the world other than her grandma.
Cerise Fournier. Fellow 9th Grader. Baking extraordinaire… and someone who was always up at this hour.
___
Cerise yawned and stretched, the sun an hour away from rising and the grounds outside her window as quiet as a mouse. It was too early in the day for the rest of Kadic to wake up, so she decided to occupy herself with some reading from her cookbook to keep herself awake.
Sometimes though, this wasn’t always the case. Most days she’d fall right back asleep before she could plan out something for the day. Hell, even now, she fought the urge to cozy right on up under the bed again, as the temptation of sleep seemed all too enticing.
She brushed past a lock of her auburn hair that hung in front of her eyes, focusing more on the cookbook she had in her arms.
Cerise typically spent her early mornings like this, searching for new recipes from her book of recipes to experiment with as the rest of Kadic slept cozy in their beds. This morning was no exception.
She held her trusty cookbook in her lap as she read off the details in her head, comfortably sitting in her bed still dressed in her warm pajamas and fighting off her early wake-up grogginess. There were some interesting ones, but nothing particularly special.
Berry Trifle? No. They’re so easy to make, it’s child's play! Crepes? Maybe…She hadn’t quite perfected them yet, but she wasn’t in the mood right now. Besides, they were complicated to set up without going to the kitchen, and Rosa wasn’t typically awake at this hour…Maybe…
Cerise suddenly jolted by the sound of her door crashing open at speeds she hadn’t quite seen in forever, jumping in place for a brief moment as adrenaline shot through her. However, she soon calmed down once she looked at who was at her door.
Wavy dark brown hair underneath a forest green beanie…Light brown skin peeking out from black and midnight blue clothing such as a hoodie and shorts with striped tights…Unsettled pale blue eyes…
It was Ghost, her best friend.
She apparently kicked the door down instead of opening it by conventional means, as evidenced by a giant mud-covered footprint now permanently a part of the door.
Her skin was paler than usual, her typical calm expression replaced with an agitated, fearful look. Confused, Cerise cocked her head and put down her book right next to her.
“Ghost? What on earth-”
“Cer-” Ghost paused, briefly looking at her door as if seemingly regretting the force she used to kick it down. She then looked back at Cerise with this guilty look in her eyes, like she just stepped on a dog’s paw.
“...Oh stars, sorry about your door…But that’s not important, I need to tell you something…dire.”
“Dire?” She repeated her words, her eyebrow raised as she tried to ponder what Ghost was thinking.
“Is that why you’re up so early?” She squinted her eyes. Ghost slowly nodded her head, looking away briefly with a small hum.
Knowing that this was not to be ignored, she pushed herself off of her bed, ready to listen to whatever Ghost had to say. Ghost sighed, a look of concern crossing her face.
“Okay, so, y’know how I like performing seances at night? Well, I heard rumors about those five that went missing some years ago, and I thought ‘Hey, maybe they came back as spirits I could communicate with,’ and…Well, there was one in the forest I tried to talk to, a girl who died in our grade that looked like she died in a blizzard, but there was something…wrong about that one.”
“Wrong…How?” Cerise tilted her head, noticing just how unnerved Ghost was. Her knuckles were white and she was sweating profusely. An affliction that was slowly infecting Cerise.
“…She was an incredibly restless spirit…If I could even refer to her as one…Neither spirit nor demon, I’d say she had to be something else entirely…She looked normal, albeit with a rather… grotesque appearance, but…” She paused, twisting her face into a frown as she grabbed Cerise’s arm instinctively. Cerise didn’t reject it, if only because Ghost was being so vulnerable with her.
“...I’ve never had a spirit attack me before.” She ended, her voice as chilled as her words.
Cerise stared at Ghost, feeling her blood turn cold as she saw proof of what her best friend meant.
There was a wound on her cheek, with a couple of kiddy band-aids slapped on with some poorly applied rubbing alcohol. A subtle yet noticeable addition to her face.
Cerise tried to bury how concerned she felt for her friend despite how unsettled she felt herself.
“Are you okay?” She spoke softly in an attempt to ease her friend, putting her hand on Ghost’s shoulder to further ground the poor girl. Ghost sighed, looking away from Cerise’s seemingly piercing eyes.
“Kinda…but that’s not why I came to you.”
Ghost gulped as she drudged up an anxiety that Cerise had never seen before. One that mirrored itself into her soul.
“I…I accidentally left the seance circle…open.”
“...What happens if you leave it open?”
Ghost looked deep into Cerise’s eyes, a haunted look rendered deeply in those grayish-blue eyes.
“So much. The spirit could continue to wander the woods at night if I can’t close it off, and what’s there to say it will only attack just me? People could get hurt, we need to warn people so they can stay away from the woods for now,” Her voice got quieter, a regretful expression spreading across her face.
Cerise could understand the logic behind Ghost’s fear and paranoia, especially after hearing that .
“...I get what you’re saying but, how do we even warn people about the ghost? We both have classes all day today, and I have to attend a bake sale! I don’t think we have the time to warn all of Kadic before nightfall,”
Ghost blinked for a few seconds, processing what Cerise just said, before pressing her fingers to her chin while pondering. Cerise joined in with her a moment later. Though, no matter how much she thought, for the life of Cerise, she couldn’t think of anything…
Staff? Out of the window, out of the question! They hated ANYTHING regarding those five kids that disappeared. Delmas would surely find a way to expel both her and Ghost if they brought anything to them directly.
Police? Not possible. They won’t believe a bunch of kids about a ghost on school grounds, even if that one happened to be connected to a missing persons case.
Their parents?
Well- Cerise is taking a page from Jim’s book and would rather not talk about her parents. Ghosts? Well, she didn’t know what Ghost’s family situation was like, she’d leave that decision for her, not herself.
“…The news, maybe?” Ghost suggested out of the blue, turning back to her. Cerise perked up from her pondering, giving her idea a chance.
“Well…That is a good start, but…I don’t think the people there believe in ghosts, especially…Alex.”
“It’s either that, or nothing at all, and I’d rather we try and do something about it,” Ghost shrugged. Cerise looked to the ground nervously, feeling nerves and fear cloud her mind.
Sure, Ghost was practically her ride or die, and they’d been friends forever, but…there was one reason that Kadic News was still afloat ever since the graduation of Milly Solovieff and Tamiya Diop, a reason that inflicted a mixed reaction of fear and respect in every student at Kadic.
Alexandrie Fontaine.
A girl is known by her sleeplessness and cola addictions as much as by her weapon of choice.
She was in their grade, though the two couldn’t be any more different from her. Cross one line around her and you were liable to be drenched by her high-pressure water gun, strong enough to knock even the biggest 12th graders over with a single blast.
She was the editor of Kadic News, a sleepless job that she did day in and day out, and she was the reason the news still had any credibility left in it. She ran the group with an iron fist, and legend has it that, at night, you can hear the ghosts of her drill sergeant-like shouts echo through the halls surrounding the newsroom.
As such, it should come as no surprise that Kadic News was just as no-nonsense as she was. Sheep flock behind the shepherd, after all. If there was someone who wouldn’t even think that their story was worth publishing, it would be her.
Ghost didn’t sit too far away from her in her class, and when she first saw her for the first time, she genuinely thought she was a ghost haunting the school, considering just how drop-dead tired she constantly looked. So, she walked up to her and asked if she was indeed a spirit.
Now, Ghost didn’t mean to poke a nerve, but something about that question just irked Alex. Too bad Ghost didn’t realize until much later that Alex was a super soldier with that water, else she would’ve been able to save her old tarot deck from getting ruined.
This wasn’t the first instance of that either. Poor Cerise had to be on the other end of Alex’s wrath last year because she accidentally took a cola from the Kadic newsroom without asking who it belonged to. Cerise shuddered in remembrance, feeling the still permanent cold spot on her skin.
“...If you want to try, you can,” Cerise said after a few moments of awkward silence, “...I’ll go with you to make sure everything goes alright.” Of course, she had her doubts, but she had to stick with her just in case.
“Are you sure?” Ghost asked.
“I’m sure. Besides, I’m sure Alex won’t be that bad.” Cerise simply nodded in response. She hoped she wouldn't be difficult this time around.
___
“So, let me get this straight.”
Ghost and Cerise stood uncomfortably on the other side of a large table, the air around them rich with the smell of printer toner and the clicking of keyboards. Cerise was clad in her day look of a red jacket over a white shirt, black shorts, and dark gray sneakers, while Ghost stuck to her usual outfit. They found little room to complain about the noise and smell as they were too occupied with trying to keep calm as the larger-than-life figure in front of them twirled a pen in her hands.
Alexandrie Fontaine.
She was decently tall, with messy long, chocolate brown hair and bangs that sat freely above her eyes. She wore a blue hoodie with a red gas mask symbol on the back, a black shirt with a red skull shown boldly on the front, brown pants, and murky blue steel-toed boots that were resting menacingly on the desk in front of the girls.
She was twirling a pen in her hand, the writing utensil flipping from finger to finger, with her hands covered in black fingerless gloves. On the bridge of her nose sat a pair of dark thick-rimmed glasses.
She barely did anything to obscure her calculating, tired eyes and the permanent eye bags that hung underneath from staring directly at the two.
“You went into the woods to do stupid ghost shit or whatever when suddenly, a human popsicle came out of nowhere and attacked you?”
…Ghost hated the fact that she knew exactly where Alex was going based on how she was acting. But still, Ghost pushed on.
“Well, y-yes…That’s what happened more or less…If we don’t close down the seance, people could get hurt!”
Silence reigned for a single second. In that second, Ghost hoped that her warning got through to the tough-as-nails Fontaine, but, of course, it wasn’t that easy.
“...HAHAHAHHAHAHHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHHAHA!!!”
Alex’s laughter rang harsh and cold, a laugh so powerful that Alex couldn’t help but slap her knees involuntarily, like what Ghost was saying was the funniest thing since clowns.
However, to Ghost, it might as well have been a shotgun blast aimed directly at her heart and soul, feeling somehow worse than the attack from last night.
“You couldn’t give me a much more fake story even if you tried!” Alex wheezed, her laughter still echoing through her words. Ghost winced, frowning, still trying to reason with her despite how seriously she was taking it.
“Please Alex believe me, it’s true.”
Ghost points at the scar on her cheek. Alex looked at it, her laughter dying down as she squinted her eyes.
“Are you sure you didn’t, trip yourself on a branch or something? You know cuts can be from something other than some otherworldly spirit ,” Alex waved her hands at the last few words, an expression all but signifying her disbelief in the whole case.
“That’s rude Alex, I think she’s far too serious for it to be made up.” A younger female voice spoke up, her voice quieter and more inviting compared to the stern, coldness of Alex’s voice.
Ghost looked at the figure sitting close to Alex. An 8th grader, with wavy brown hair and blue eyes, Isabelle Delacroix. She wore a violet-colored dress and a white sleeveless coat over it, completing the look with black tights and brown boots. She was always carrying her sketchbook with her; it was her most important possession.
Known to be a sweet, yet hard-working girl. Sometimes, others struggle to believe that she and Alex are roommates just based on how those two were complete opposites to one another.
Ghost kept her eyes on her, gaining some hope in their situation. If anyone could talk some sense into Alex, it would presumably be her roommate…If they had a good relationship, that is. Ghost didn’t know the details.
All she had was hope, and she hoped for the best as she slowly shifted her gaze to Alex.
By the look of it, she seemed to contemplate what she was going to say. Not at all convinced to help, but holding back whatever she was planning to say.
“Izzy, we've gotten hundreds of ghost stories before, and the ones we took the time to look into were just as fake as the last ones that came before it. All just hoaxes from people who are scared of their own shadow. What's there to believe about this one?”
“Well- It's just…” Isabelle stammered, not expecting this response, before picking herself back up again,”...The ones we tried to look into didn't have an actual story behind them compared to hers, and it seems to be tied into a major story that changed the school's reputation,” Isabelle suggested. Alex paused, actually considering the idea for a moment.
“...True…It could potentially be some sort of lead to figuring out their disappearance, and it could be a major story…But then again, can you believe anything she says? Half the time she doesn't even know where she is.” Alex turned her attention to Ghost.
Ghost's attention snapped forward at the mention of her name, losing track of where the conversation was headed. Alex turned to Isabelle, shooting her hands out to Ghost, her eyes wide, lips pursed in a silent expression.
Isabelle paused, glancing between both Alex and Ghost, unsure of what to say.
“If I may add, I know that her stories can be a bit…unbelievable, but her getting hurt never happens, and she wouldn't lie about what had happened to her, or even go to the news about it… Can you at least give her a chance?” Cerise perked up, stepping slightly in front of Ghost, her gaze solely on Alex.
Alex hummed as she lowered her head, seemingly thinking about the stories they received.
“How about we check it out first to find out?” Isabelle suggested. “Who knows, this one may be real after all.” She added.
At this moment, Ghost was hoping, praying, and pleading for Alex to say yes. She needed someone like her to believe her about that thing. Alex sighed as she stood up.
“Alright, fine. I'll give you one chance. One. You better hope that your story is real, otherwise, I better not see your face in this room ever again or I’ll have your heads. ”
“...Y-yes ma’am!” Cerise stammered, nodding fearfully. Ghost on the other hand felt nothing but delight.
“I’d like to go-” Isabelle started. Alex’s hand immediately shot up, stopping her in her tracks.
“No, sit back down, kid.” Alex cut in, shutting down the idea immediately. “If this spirit is as dangerous as Ghost claims to be, I don't want to put you in danger, understand?”
Isabelle looked away but nodded in response.
“This goes for you too, Cerise, I know you’re worried, but I don't want to put you in danger either.” Ghost turned to Cerise, a cautionary gaze directed at her.
“O-...okay then… Stay safe, you both.” Cerise answered, seemingly not prepared for Ghost asking her not to go, almost disappointed in a way.
Ghost turned to Alex, who had an expectant look on her face. Ghost stared for a long moment, tilting her head.
“...What?”
“What time do I have to be there? Duh,” Alex raised an eyebrow, seeming already tired of her.
“Midnight…Though preferably 3 AM because that’s when spirits are most active.”
“Uhm, no. I’m not staying up until 3 AM just to do this one thing,” Alex stated, her tone flatter than all the paper that practically surrounded them.
“…Midnight it is then.”